F1 Bahrain 2013: Ferrari finds cause of Alonso DRS fault

Ferrari has announced that it has discovered the cause of the DRS issue that affected Fernando Alonso during the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The Spaniard was running second in the early stages before his DRS became stuck open, forcing him into the pits for repairs.

When the issue then reoccurred, Alonso was forced to run without DRS for the remainder of the race, leaving him down in eighth place by the finish.

Investigations following the race have now confirmed the cause of the issue, which Ferrari says has now resolved to ensure there will be no repeat in future.

“Analysis revealed that the problem was caused by the breakage of a mechanical component within the system,” a statement from the Scuderia read. “It's the first problem of its kind on this system seen in the three years during which it has been used.

“The failure is not something that causes concern for the long term, however, paying great attention to reliability must always remain at the highest level.”

With Felipe Massa failing to score after suffering from tyre issues, Ferrari picked up just four points from the Sakhir race weekend, with team principal Stefano Domenicali admitting that the team need to be 'perfect in every area' to fight back in the title race.

“In these first four races of the season, we have not managed, for various reasons, to bring home the points that were within our grasp,” he said.” That's why the gap to the top in both classifications seems quite large, but we can't be discouraged by this because we have seen so often, both in our favour and against, how things can change in a hurry.

“We believe in our ability to be in the fight for the titles right to the end and this time, we have been in that fight since the start, which has not been the case for a while. At the same time, we must be aware that in order to achieve our objectives, we have to be perfect in every area.”